The Edgewood Academy Wildcats girls basketball team bested Trinity in an early tip-off on New Year’s Eve by a score of 49-14.
Brad Starks is aware that his team is very capable of accomplishing great heights down the stretch of the season, and the lopsided victory against Trinity is a step in the right direction.
“ We have the pieces to put in place to do the things that we want to do, so it comes down to execution and discipline for us,” Starks said.
Starks utilizes his personnel well, by allowing the tandem of Avery White and Lexie Smith to feed off of each other’s play-making, while also having valuable roles for every player that he puts on the floor. With a monster 13 rebound performance from White, and an 18 point outing from Smith, the Wildcats prove they can create havoc for any opponent.
White has become the vocal and physical leader for the Wildcats by dominating the glass and coordinating the play calls on the floor. The senior forward understands that she plays a crucial role in the late season growth for her ball club.
“It's been tough… The beginning of the season was really hard, but like Coach Starks said to us earlier, our team is very young, and people are finding out, like what their job is on the court and what they need to do, and I think that that's helping us a lot figuring out where everyone needs to go,” White said.
What makes Edgewood’s game plan so efficient, is their ability to suffocate the opponent by remaining in a full court press right out of the gate, never allowing the other team to find any rhythm on offense. The stingy Wildcat’s defense only allowed a total of 14 points against Trinity, and this was in large part due to the four steals gathered by Emerson Boddie. Boddie has great awareness and anticipation on defense making her a threat to cause a turnover for the other team.
Aubrey Newton provides added physicality to the floor, as she came away with a demanding 7 rebounds, while also creating shots at the line by getting fouled.
The Wildcats start area play on Thursday as they will travel to Banks Academy.
